THE MACKEREL FAMILY
(_Scombridæ_)
The fishes of this family are all pelagic, and most of them are highly
valued for food. They are characterized by an elongate body, more or
less compressed; pointed head; large mouth; sharp teeth; two dorsal
fins; the anal and second dorsal fins are similar in shape and size, and
both are followed by detached finlets; the caudal fin is widely forked
or falcate, its pedicle very slender and with a sharp keel; scales small
and smooth.
_Scomberomorus maculatus._ The Spanish Mackerel. Body elongate,
covered with rudimentary scales, which do not form a distinct
corselet; head pointed, short and small; mouth wide; strong
teeth in jaws, knife-shaped; sandlike teeth on vomer and
palatines; gill-rakers 2 + 11; caudal peduncle with a single
keel; head 4-1/2; depth 4-1/2; D. XVII-18-IX; A. II-17-IX; eye
4-3/4; soft dorsal inserted in advance of anal, somewhat;
lateral line undulating, with about 175 pores; spots bronze.
_Scomberomorus regalis._ The Cero. Body rather elongate, its
dorsal and ventral curves about equal; mouth large, maxillary
reaching to below the eye; angle of preopercle produced
backward; pectorals scaly; caudal less widely forked than
_maculatus_; teeth triangular, compressed, about 40 in each
jaw; pectorals scaly; spots and stripes brownish; head 4-1/4;
depth 4-1/2; D. XVII-I, 15-VIII; A. II, 14-VIII.
_Sarda sarda._ The Bonito. Body elongate, moderately
compressed, robust; head 3-3/4; depth 4; D. XXI-I, 13-VIII; A.
I, 13-VII; P. 10; scales small, those of the pectoral region
forming a distinct corselet; teeth moderate, slightly
compressed, about 40 in each jaw; mouth large, maxillary
reaching beyond orbit; lateral line slightly undulating, with
nowhere a decided curve.
THE SPANISH MACKEREL
(_Scomberomorus maculatus_)
The Spanish mackerel was first described by Dr. Mitchill, in 1815, from
the vicinity of New York. He named it _maculatus_, or "spotted," owing
to the large bronze spots on its sides.
It is common to the southern portions of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts
and the Gulf of Mexico, ranging in summer as far north as Cape Cod, and
is one of the trimmest and most graceful fishes known, as well as one of
the most beautiful both in form and coloration. It is especially adapted
for rapid and sustained motion. Its long, graceful, and elliptical body
is four times its depth. The head is as long as the depth of the body,
with a large mouth, and sharp, lancet-shaped teeth in both jaws. It has
two dorsal fins; the second dorsal and anal fins are nearly opposite
each other, are similar in outline, and are each followed by nine
detached finlets; the caudal fin is widely forked, the lobes being long
and pointed or crescent-shaped. Its color is silvery, bluish or greenish
above, paling to white on the belly, with iridescent reflections; the
sides are dotted with some thirty bronze or golden spots, a fourth of an
inch or more in diameter; the first dorsal fin is dark in front, whitish
behind; the second dorsal is yellowish; the anal fin is pale; the
pectoral fin is yellow, bordered with black; the caudal fin is dusky.
The Spanish mackerel is gregarious and migratory, swimming in large
schools, and feeding at the surface on pilchards, anchovies, and
sardines in Florida, and on silversides and menhaden in northern waters.
When feeding, the schools are constantly leaping above the surface, and
the flashing of their silvery forms in the bright sunlight is a
beautiful and inspiriting sight, enhanced by the flocks of gulls and
terns whirling and darting above the schools, eager for such stray
morsels and fragments as they are able to seize. In the Gulf of Mexico
it often feeds in company with the salt-water trout, and in northern
waters with the bluefish and weakfish.
It is a fish of the warm seas, approaching the shores for spawning and
feeding when the temperature becomes suitable. It appears on the Gulf
coast of Florida in March and April, though I have observed it as early
as January in forward seasons. Its advent on the Atlantic coast is
later, progressing gradually northward, reaching the vicinity of New
York in July and August, and disappearing in October or November. Its
breeding season in the Gulf of Mexico is in the early spring, and as
late as August or September at the northern extent of its range. Its
spawning may cover a period of many weeks, as the fish do not all mature
at one and the same time. The eggs are quite small, about twenty-five to
the inch, float at the surface, and hatch in a single day. The newly
hatched fry are very small, about the tenth of an inch long, but in a
year will have attained a length of six inches. The average weight of a
mature fish is from two to four pounds, rarely exceeding six or eight
pounds.
The Spanish mackerel is held in the highest esteem as a food-fish, being
considered one of the very best, second only to the pompano of the Gulf
or the whitefish of the Great Lakes. It has a mackerel flavor, but one
peculiarly its own for richness and sapidity of savor. It is a game-fish
of high degree, and worthy of the angler's highest regard. Its manner of
fighting, when hooked, is mostly on the surface of the water, darting
here and there with dazzling rapidity, in straight and curving lines,
leaping into air, and bounding over the water with a velocity and
nimbleness that is difficult to follow with the eye in the bright
sunlight.
In northern waters it is usually taken by trolling with a small
mother-of-pearl squid, or one of block tin, using a long hand-line, as
the fish is rather shy and difficult to approach with a boat. In
Florida, however, great sport can be had with a light rod, both in
fly-fishing and bait-fishing, from the sand-spits at the entrance to
deep inlets, and from the long piers and wharves that extend to deep
water. The angling is done in March and April, when the fish are running
into the bays in great schools on the flood tide, often in company with
the salt-water trout.
A black-bass or trout fly-rod of seven or eight ounces is very suitable
for fly-fishing, with a click reel and a braided linen line of pretty
large size, say D or E, in order to give weight enough for casting. The
enamelled silk line is, of course, better, but it does not last long in
salt water. Any bright or gaudy fly will answer, on hooks Nos. 1 to 3,
though yellowish or grayish flies are perhaps more attractive. A single
fly only should be used, with a three or four foot leader. Black-bass
rods and tackle are just right for bait-fishing for the Spanish
mackerel, except that a braided linen line, and not a silk line, should
be used for reasons just given. The best bait is a small, bright fish,
three or four inches long, either mullet or anchovy, hooked through the
lips. A small pearl squid, or a very small trolling-spoon or spinner,
may be used instead, but the minnow is far and away the most attractive
lure.
The bait is cast as far as possible toward the school as it is running
past the point of an inlet or the end of a pier, and reeled in slowly,
but rapidly enough to keep the bait on or near the surface, no sinker
being employed. If the fishing is done from a pier, a very long-handled
landing-net must be provided. The best plan is to fish from a small boat
moored to the pier, as the angler is not so likely to be seen by the
fish, and they are more easily landed. The same method is pursued in
fly-fishing in the general features, except that the fly is allowed to
sink after fluttering it awhile on the surface; no other special
suggestions are needed. I have found the following flies useful: gray
drake, green drake, red ibis, oriole, professor, and silver doctor, in
black-bass patterns, on hooks Nos. 1 to 3.
THE CERO
(_Scomberomorus regalis_)
The cero, or sierra, was described by Bloch, in 1795, from a drawing of
a specimen from the West Indies, by Plumier. He named it _regalis_,
meaning "royal" or "regal." It belongs to the West Indian fauna of
fishes, and is common from Florida to Brazil. Occasionally it strays in
the summer as far north as Massachusetts. It is closely allied to the
Spanish mackerel, and resembles it in form, but differs very much in
coloration and size, being more sombre and much larger. Its color is
brownish on the back, with silvery sides and belly; it is marked with
two dusky longitudinal stripes, and several rows of dark spots, not
bronze or golden as in the Spanish mackerel.
I have met with the cero only along the Florida reefs and keys. It does
not swim in such large schools as the Spanish mackerel, and does not
accompany it in its wanderings into the bays or along the shores, but
seeks the same localities, and is of similar habits, as the
kingfish-mackerel. It feeds entirely on fishes. Its breeding habits have
not been studied, though they are doubtless not unlike those of the
Spanish mackerel, except as to the locality and season of depositing its
eggs. Its usual weight is five or six pounds, though it sometimes grows
to five feet in length and twenty pounds or more in weight.
I have taken it with bone and block-tin squids, trolling from a yacht,
and also from an anchored boat with rod and line, by casting mullet or
sardines for bait. A striped-bass rod and tackle are suitable, as it is
a strong and powerful fish, making extraordinary leaps when hooked. For
its weight I know of no gamer fish, but my experience in rod-fishing has
been somewhat limited, being confined to the capture of half a dozen
fish.
I was once yachting along the Florida keys, and while anchored near
Bahia Honda I put off in the dinghy to cast mullet bait for cero and
kingfish (_Scomberomorus cavalla_). The latter is a near relative of the
cero, and they resemble each other so closely that it is often
difficult to distinguish between them. The kingfish is rather more
slender, the adult fish being of a uniform slaty hue, usually without
spots or markings of any kind, and grows to a larger size, often to
fifty pounds or more. It is fully described in another volume of this
series.
On the occasion referred to I captured a number of kingfish and two
ceros of about the same relative weight, from eight to ten pounds. The
conditions were quite favorable to compare their gameness, but I was
unable to perceive any difference in this respect. Both fish took the
bait with a rush, and when hooked exhibited game qualities of the
highest order, leaping continuously and to a height of five or six feet.
Their swift rushes, as they cut through the water with incredible
swiftness, and for which they are especially built, were very trying to
my light striped-bass rod. I lost a number of fish that shook out the
hook when leaping. I used the Sproat bend, No. 7-0, but 5-0 would be
large enough for the average-sized cero. My line was a braided linen,
size E, to which the snelled hook was attached by a small brass
box-swivel; but knobbed hooks, if they can be obtained of suitable size,
are to be preferred.
[Illustration THE BONITO]
[_Sarda sarda_]
[Illustration THE NIGGER-FISH]
[_Bodianus fulvus_]
[Illustration THE POMPANO]
[_Trachinotus carolinus_]
The market fishermen of Key West troll for kingfish and cero in their
schooner smacks, using coarse hand-laid cotton lines, and codfish or
other large hooks as mentioned. The bait is usually a piece of white
bacon-rind, cut in an elliptical shape to resemble a fish, and strung
along the shank of the hook, and fastened at the top by a piece of fine
copper wire. This rude device is very successful, as they take hundreds
of fish in a few days, of a size running from ten to fifty pounds. The
cero and the kingfish are favorite food-fishes in Key West, where large
quantities are consumed; and years ago many were carried to Havana by
the smacks, until a prohibitive duty was imposed by the Spanish
governor-general, in order to favor Spanish fishermen. Under the changed
conditions that now exist in Cuba this trade will doubtless be resumed.
Both the cero and kingfish are excellent food-fishes, with a flavor much
like that of the Spanish mackerel, but more pronounced,--that is, not so
delicate and delicious, but more pungent.
Northern anglers who go to Florida in quest of the tarpon will find in
the cero and kingfish game-fishes of great merit on light tackle.
THE BONITO
(_Sarda sarda_)
The bonito is a very handsome and gamy fish belonging to the mackerel
family. It was named _sarda_ by Bloch, in 1793, from its being taken in
the vicinity of Sardinia. It inhabits both coasts of the Atlantic Ocean,
and the Mediterranean Sea. It is not uncommon from the region of Cape
Cod southward to Florida and the West Indies, where it is more abundant.
It has a long, graceful body, nearly round, its depth a fourth of its
length. It is elliptical in outline, tapering to a very slender caudal
pedicle, which is strongly keeled. The mouth is large, with strong,
conical teeth. The caudal fin is deeply forked, or swallow-like. Its
color is dark steel-blue above, silvery below, with white belly. There
are numerous dark oblique stripes running from the back downward and
forward, by which it is easily recognized. The ventral fins are whitish,
the other fins are bluish black.
The bonito is a pelagic fish, approaching the shores in search of food,
which consists of small fishes almost entirely. It grows to a length of
three or four feet, though it is usually taken of ten or twelve pounds
in weight. It does not rank high as a food-fish, having rather dark
flesh of a strong mackerel flavor, rather too pungent to be agreeable,
but it is liked generally by sailors. There is another fish of the
Atlantic coast (_Gymnosarda pelamis_), of the mackerel family, that is
known as the oceanic bonito. It may be distinguished by its stripes
being horizontal, instead of oblique; it is rather rare.
The bonito is taken only by trolling with a small fish for bait, or a
block-tin, bone, or shell squid, from a sailing vessel, and with
bluefish tackle. It is frequently caught by the Key West fishermen when
trolling for kingfish with a bait of bacon-rind. It is a powerful fish,
and withal a very game one, being a swift swimmer, and must be handled
very carefully when hooked. The line should be a heavy one of braided
linen or cotton, and a foot or two of brass or copper wire should be
used as a snell to withstand its sharp and numerous teeth. A Sproat or
O'Shaughnessy hook, No. 7-0, is about right when bait is used, and one
of similar size with artificial squids, or spinners.
I was once trolling in the vicinity of the Dry Tortugas, and in a short
time took four bonitos of about twelve pounds each. As the yacht was
going at a spanking rate with a beam wind, the strain on the line was
tremendous, and in each case the vessel had to be luffed up into the
wind to enable me to land them. As one fish was more than enough for the
crew, and as I had occasion to land at Fort Jefferson, on Garden Key, I
resolved to donate the others to the garrison of the fortress. On going
ashore I found the "garrison" to consist of one man, the corporal in
charge of the property. He said he did not think he alone could get away
with the fish, but as the lighthouse keeper of the fort would return
from Loggerhead Key in the afternoon, he thought that they, together
with his dog, might manage to dispose of them. Afterward he informed me
that he and the light-keeper had finished one bonito, and the dog, whose
name was Bonaparte, had made way with the others, or as he expressed it:
"Bone eet two," and said this without any intent to pun on bon-i-to; he
thought that I was amused at the capacity of Bonaparte as an
ichthyophagist, being unconscious of his play on the words which caused
my merriment.